Cabinet maker salary in Australia

What qualified cabinet makers earn

Your Career (the Australian Government careers site) lists average earnings for cabinetmakers at $1,216 per week, roughly low-sixties per year full time before tax, while the Jobs and Skills Australia profile for the cabinetmakers group (ANZSCO 3941) reports median weekly earnings around $1,400. These figures update over time, so treat them as a marker and check the live numbers on the Your Career and Jobs and Skills Australia pages before making decisions. Overtime, site allowances and installation work can push real take-home above the survey averages.

What moves the number

• •Experience and speed: a tradesperson who can run a job start to finish is worth more than one who needs supervision.
• •CNC, CAD and nesting software skills: shops pay a premium for people who can program the machines, not just feed them.
• •Installation skills: good installers who can scribe, level and problem-solve on site are chronically hard to find.
• •Sector: commercial shopfitting and fit-out generally pays above domestic kitchen manufacturing, especially under enterprise agreements.
• •Location: capital city and mining-region wages typically beat regional workshop rates, though living costs eat some of that.
• •Self-employment: contracting installs or running your own shop lifts the ceiling well above wages, with all the usual business risk, and may need a contractor licence for on-site work in states like Queensland.

Award vs enterprise agreement

Your legal minimum depends on which industrial instrument covers your employer, and in this trade that is genuinely messy: joinery shops and shopfitters generally sit under the Joinery and Building Trades Award, while manufacturers of in-built furniture like kitchen cabinets and wardrobes are expressly excluded from that award and typically fall under the Timber Industry Award, with on-site construction work under different coverage again. Larger commercial firms often run enterprise agreements that pay above any award. That is exactly why the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool exists: it works out the right award and rate for your actual job.

Apprentice pay, explained without figures

Apprentice rates are a percentage-style scale that steps up through the apprenticeship, and your exact rate depends on the award or agreement covering the shop, your year or competency stage, whether you have finished year 12, and whether you are a junior, adult (21 or over at the start) or school-based apprentice. Progression can be time based or competency based, so proving skills faster can mean pay rises faster. Do not rely on a mate's payslip or a forum post: put your details into the Fair Work Pay Calculator at https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/ and get your own minimum.

How it compares with other trades

Straight talk: electricians and many licensed construction trades typically out-earn cabinet makers on the government profiles, and boom-sector site trades can pull big overtime money. Cabinet making trades some of that ceiling for a workshop environment, steadier hours, less weather and a strong pathway into design, production management, CNC programming or your own business. If maximum pay is the only goal, look hard at the licensed trades; if you want a making trade with decent money and better working conditions, cabinet making stacks up well.

Check the live numbers

Wage data ages quickly. Before you commit, open the Your Career cabinetmaker page and the Jobs and Skills Australia profile for the current earnings figures, and run your own situation through the Fair Work Pay Calculator for apprentice and trade minimums. Ten minutes of checking beats planning your life around a stale average.